Act Nice and Gentle
by Theawkward1
Summary: Steve meets Sam and Peggy at a bar because he thinks Bucky is hiding something.


A/N So, I haven't posted anything for ages. I started writing this waaaaaaaaaaaay before Civil War came out. It has nothing to do with anything in the MCU. I'm just total trash. That's all i can say for myself. Oh, and everyone is out of character and this is terrible.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Steve," Peggy's hand shoots forward and covers his, before he can lift the next shot glass to his mouth. "Steve," she says again, looking perfectly pressed in her vintage cocktail dress, "I think you've had enough."

Steve felt scruffy and blurry sitting between his two friends. As if it wasn't bad enough that he still got carded whenever they went out, Sam and Peggy look like professional business people out for an after work drink and little Steve Rogers rolls in with paint stains on his jeans, a shirt that had been washed too many times to still fit right, and a beanie pulled over his blonde hair. Steve frowns and looks at the small row of empty glasses in front of him on the table, he knows he's going to regret it in the morning, but he made it through an entire week of avoiding Bucky and tonight he just want to get drunk.

Sam nudges his shoulder from his seat next to him in the booth, his lean muscled bulk causing steve to shift slightly against the cracked vinyl bench covering, "Really, man, we want to hang out… talk to you. We still don't even know what happened, really...If you keep drinking like this we are going to have to carry you out to the cab."

An hour later and Steve was just drunk enough to be maudlin. The whole long story had spilled out of his liquor loosened lips and now he was staring forlornly at the door.

Sam and Peggy exchange a look that was really a silent argument over whose turn it was to talk down Steve Rogers, the most bullheaded man in America. Finally, Sam spoke up.

"Steve, man…I know you have trust issues, especially after what happened with Brock, but if Bucky says there isn't anything going on between the two of them, you just need to trust him."

Steve rolls his eyes and takes a drink from the beer in front of him, "I don't think he was cheating on me, Sam. But, he didn't even tell me they had a history. It was lying by omission." He pushes the beanie off of his head and tangles his fingers in his hair before continuing. " I showed up to meet him for lunch and there was this gorgeous redhead at the desk across from his. Her name is Natasha, by the way. Natasha Romanov, her name belongs in a Bond movie. She was like, 'Oh, it's so great to meet you. We'll have to compare notes about James sometime. He talks about you all the time.' And I said, 'Well, that must be nice because he hasn't said a word about you." Steve's voice rose sharply towards the end of the sentence and cracked with emotion on the final word.

Peggy groans, "Steve, sometimes you need to filter before jumping into Captain Righteous mode."

Sam just shakes his head sadly.

"Bucky walked in and was all, 'Steve, this is Nat. We worked together in Vice a few years ago. Then, Nat gave him this weird look and shoved at his shoulder and said, 'Geez, James, we lived together for a year. You make it sound like we are old business colleagues."

Peggy makes another groaning sound and covers her eyes, "Then what happened?"

"I asked him how long Nat had been assigned as his partner, and he said a few weeks, and I said 'Wow, so we're you ever going to tell me about this.' And before he could say anything I just turned around and left."

"And…," Sam, lifted his hand in a circling motion.

Steve shrugs before draining the last of the beer, "That's it. I haven't talked to him since."

"Jesus, Steve." Sam shakes his head. "You should have given him a chance to explain."

"What was he going to say, 'Hey Steve, this is my ex-lover with flawless bone structure who I lived with for two years and now I'm spending all of my insane working hours with. Sorry I tried to keep you in the dark?"

Peggy swirled her drink around the ice in her glass lazily, "You should ring him, Steve. He's been worried about you."

"Lying by omission is still lying." Steve says, stubbornness clinging to every word.

Sam reaches across the table and covers Steve's hand with his own. "You haven't told Bucky everything about Brock yet. He might not realize how big of a deal this is to you."

Steve's eyebrows are doing that thing that means he's going to stick to this conviction until the day he dies when Sam notices a couple walking behind the shoulder of Peggy's crisp suit. "Aww, shit." He mutters, covering his eyes with his hand, elbow planted on the table, because the only thing worse than angry, drunk Steve Rogers is angry, drunk, Steve Rogers causing a scene he will eventually regret in a bar.

Steve and Peggy both turn in unison at Sam's expression as Officer James "Bucky" Barnes and a redheaded woman, Sam and Peggy are betting Natasha, walk towards the bar.

"Now, Steve," Peggy begins, but before she can finish the sentence, Steve has haphazardly crawled out of the booth and is striding towards the bar with a righteous fury fueled by indignation and alcohol.

Bucky leans up against the bar grinning at the bartender, a guy in the sleeveless purple shirt who is pulling the tap as he fills an order. Natasha, on the other hand, is talking to the guy and it looks like signing something as she speaks. Steve tries not to notice that Bucky's jeans fit him like they were made just for him, or that the black leather jacket emphasizes his broad shoulders,before he draws close enough to spit out, "I hope I'm not ruining your date."

Buck's head whips around at the sound of Steve's angry voice rising above the din of the bar. Relief flickers across his features, before he composes himself and pulls all of his emotions behind what Steve had taken to calling his 'cop face.'

"We need to talk," Bucky says, taking a step closer, voice firm.

Steve gestures to Nastasha without breaking eye contact with Bucky, "Won't your girlfriend get jealous?" He takes a step closer, blue eyes sparking with irritation and hurt.

"Jesus Christ, Steve. Would you pull your head out of you ass and use your eyes for five seconds." Bucky nods his head towards Natasha and Steve swivels his head and realizes that Natasha has hopped on the brass footrest on the bottom of the bar and is leaning over, kissing the bartender. "That's Clint. Nat's fiance. Now come with me so we can talk."

Without another glance or word, Bucky walks toward the back of the bar where a dim hallway leads to two doors containing restrooms and a third bearing an Employees Only sign. Steve follows, trying to process what he just witnessed. He also notices Peggy and Sam watching with interest as he walks across the building.

Bucky stops when the hallway takes a sharp turn towards the employee area. The music is muted and the hallway is dimly lit, Steve watches as Bucky tugs his fingers through his hair with frustration before he turns to him. "What's going on with you?" he asks.

"What are you talking about?" Steve says, taking a step forward and drawing himself up to his full height, still just reaching a few inches above Bucky's shoulder, "You are the one keeping secrets."

"Steve, c'mon, really?" Bucky's sighs and seems to deflate before Steve's eyes, "You show up at work a week ago because we had a lunch date, after locking yourself up for almost a month in your apartment working nonstop on the stuff for your showed up with food or coffee or something to make sure you weren't starving. Which I get, your work is important, I'm not trying to say anything about that. You meet Nat, then you leave and I can't get ahold of you for a week. I called, I texted, I came by your apartment a few times, obviously you were avoiding me. I don't even know what really happened to upset you."

Steve studies Bucky while his mind runs back over Bucky's words, his temper cooling almost immediately. Maybe Peggy and Sam were right, maybe he had overreacted.

"I thought...," he stops and looks down at his Converse, scraping the discolored toe against the floor, "I thought you were cheating on me with Nat, or at least hiding your relationship from me."

Bucky's eyes widen and his mouth drops open with surprise before he takes a small step forward. He leans his head down and tilts his head to meet Steve's eyes more fully. "I didn't tell you about Nat getting assigned as my partner because you were so focused on the exhibition we didn't really talk about anything after I found out." A lock of dark hair falls over his forehead; Steve's hand twitches to smooth it back but he forces himself to stand still and listen. "I wanted to introduce you guys that day you came to the station for lunch, but you were so upset when I got to the office and then you left so quickly."

Steve bites the side of his cheek and studies him for a moment with narrowed eyes before answering. "You two lived together for a year?"

"We were roommates when I first got a job in Baltimore. She'd had a roommate leave and my apartment was shit so I moved into her spare bedroom. Yeah, maybe we fooled around with the idea of being something more than friends at some point but it never went anywhere. Then, I transferred to New York, she and Clint were dating, it just never happened. I know we haven't been dating that long, but, Nat's just a really good friend." Bucky steps a tiny bit closer, half a grin lifting the corner of his mouth. "I'm kind of crazy about this big jerk I met at the bookstore a few months ago."

Steve fights back a smile and turns his head, glancing back in the direction of the bar, he can hear a song by The Black Keys start to play. "So, maybe you've noticed, I get worked up about things sometimes."

Bucky's grin breaks through in full force, "I think I figured that out by the end of our first date."

Tilting his head back slightly, Steve looks up to Bucky, "I still think that movie was a the worst book to film adaptation in the history of cinema."

"So are we okay now? Misunderstanding resolved?" Bucky asks, tilting his head to the side, gray eyes studying Steve thoughtfully.

He nods, "Buck, my ex, Brock, I know we haven't really talked about our past relationships that much, but he really messed me up. I thought I could count on him and all he left me with was a carefully constructed maze of half truths and lies." He reaches out and traces the edge of Bucky's collar with his fingers, "You are the first person I've really dated seriously since then and I'm kind of relearning how to do all of this again. I feel like an idiot."

Bucky smiles so that the corners of his eyes crinkle slightly as he says, "I meant what I said, y'know. I am kindof crazy about you."

Steve doesn't fight the urge to touch this time. He lets his fingers slip through Bucky's hair and pulls slightly on the collar of Bucky's jacket until their mouth line up just right. Bucky's breath intakes rapidly, even though they've done this dozens of times before. He quickly slots his mouth against Steve's, fingertips sliding underneath the edges of his shirt, tracing the smooth skin of his back.

Steve pulls back, "Want to go introduce me to Nat for real this time?"

Bucky grins as grips Steve's hips firmly, backing him up against the wall. Steve bites his lower lip and glances up through his lashes as Bucky leans down to take his mouth again. "Or, maybe it can wait a few more minutes."


End file.
